The Milwaukee Bucks’ Brandon Jennings is photographed during the team’s media day on Monday, October 1, 2012, at the Cousins Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Gary Porter/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/MCT)

MILWAUKEE — It only seems like a decade has passed since Jerry Stackhouse sang the national anthem before a sold-out, boisterous crowd at the Bradley Center.

Actually, it was just 2-1/2 years ago.

It was Game 6 against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, the last time the Bucks made the NBA playoffs. At that moment, there was no better story in the league than a team that caught most everyone by surprise in nearing the distinctive 50-victory standard.

But the two forgettable seasons since have been mired in injury and frequent roster turnover, the kind of years that tend to obscure the fact the Bucks actually had something going not so long ago.

They might not be as electric as they were the second half of the 2009-10 season, but they will — barring the usual caveats — get back to the playoffs this year.

I like this team in a seventh-seeding kind of way. They’ve got some depth and some balance and some size, a major change since the previous season when they got caught with no backup after Andrew Bogut got hurt again and was subsequently traded.

The backcourt is never going to be anybody’s idea of ideal size, but at least Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis will have an entire training camp to further the chemistry that never had a chance to develop after Ellis came over in the Bogut deal.

It won’t help that second-round pick Doron Lamb, who had a chance to get into the rotation as a 6-foot-4 combo guy, is out for an indeterminate period. That’s a concern because Lamb could have had a larger impact on the rotation than first-round selection John Henson, given the Bucks’ surplus at forward.

Samuel Dalembert isn’t going to make anyone forget about Jack Sikma or maybe even Ervin Johnson, for that matter. But for the Bucks to be competitive again, all they need from Dalembert is the ability to defend the rim and get some rebounds. Neither commodity was available last season after Bogut was hurt, which made all the difference in a team that was unable to match up against size of any consequence.

Any kind of defense will help because the Bucks can score. They fully demonstrated their ability to get up and down the court after Scott Skiles decided to allow more offensive freedom when it became apparent the Bucks were going to stop no one. Now Skiles is in a position to re-establish his defensive principles to the extent he can with some of the roster upgrades John Hammond provided.

It will be interesting to watch the coaching and personnel moves this season because Skiles and Hammond are each in a contract year. Both know they need to make the playoffs. And if the Bucks stay healthy, they have the pieces to match up for one of the last couple of slots in the Eastern Conference.

For Skiles, returning was a no-brainer. He gets his $4 million salary and the chance to further his reputation should he wish to stay with the Bucks or move on. So far in his career, five years has been his limit anywhere. How that subplot will play out this season is anyone’s guess, but he’s close to having the kind of players the Bucks need to be more than an afterthought.

Indiana is the pick to win the Central Division, and no one is going to challenge Miami in the conference. The Pacers have rebuilt themselves as a contender the old-fashioned way, while the Heat continues to prosper as the kind of new-money phenomenon that the league has allowed to occur.

Then there are the teams that have no chance. Somewhere in the middle, the Bucks are solidly in the scrum to make the playoffs if they overachieve just a smidgen. They might even have to be taken seriously before this year is done.

And no one’s been able to say that with a straight face since Stackhouse belted out those last few notes.

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